One of the largest problem with plastics is improper disposal by consumers.
Plastic items make their way into the environment, especially our oceans. It is on
all our beaches and throughout all our waterways. The
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is filled with millions
of pounds of trash, most of it plastic.

The United Nations Environment Program report estimates 46,000
pieces of plastic debris floats on our near the surface of every
square mile of ocean.

107 billion pounds of plastic were produced in North
America in 2002.

The U.S. generated 31 million tons of plastic waste in 2010.

The overall U.S. plastics recycling rate is only 8 percent.

Plastics stay in the environment for a very long time. Most commonly used plastics do
not mineralize (or go away) in the ocean and instead break down into smaller and smaller
pieces. Because the ocean is a cold, dark place, this process happens slower in water than on land.
Plastic can harm fish and other wildlife in two main ways:

Direct
impacts—Studies show that fish and other marine life eat plastic because it
often looks like their food: plastic bags/jellyfish; bottle caps/squid; plastic bits/fish
eggs, etc. Plastics cause irritation or damage to the digestive system. If plastics are kept
in the gut instead of passing through, the animal feels full (of plastic not food). They do not
eat and this leads to malnutrition or starvation.

Indirect impacts—Plastic debris acts like a sponge. It accumulates pollutants up to 100,000
to 1,000,000 times the levels found in seawater. It is still unclear whether these pollutants can
seep from plastic debris into the organisms that happen to eat the debris. More research is needed
to help better understand these areas.

Do you know how the plastics you use affect your health and environment? It’s time to find out the steps you can take to reduce the impact.
We have copies of the DVD to loan if you would like to coordinate a viewing for your church, neighborhood, or community group. Please contact
Terri Thomas at thomaste@co.thurston.wa.us or (360) 867-2282. You can also rent the movie for home use on services such as Amazon or Netflix.

Ironically, the additives in plastics that make them great food containers are also the ones that
cause health concerns.

Plastic water bottles: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a key building block for
making polycarbonate plastics such as water bottles, with 2.3 billion pounds of it manufactured annually
in the U.S. BPA has been shown to leach from the containers into the food it contains, and scientists have
linked BPA exposure to health issues including cancers, immune disorders, hyperactivity, obesity, diabetes, and hyperactivity.

Plastic wrap and food packaging: Polyvinyl chloride and DEHP (a colorless liquid added for
flexibility) are found in food wrap and packaging used for various foods such as milk, fish and oils.
While low levels of these chemicals are believed to be harmless, high levels have been linked to asthma,
liver and kidney damage, and reproductive problems. The Environmental Protection Agency believes that
DEHP will eventually be proven to be a human carcinogen.

Cans: BPA is used to line cans to prevent corrosion and food contamination.
Tara Parker-Pope states in her April 22, 2008 New York Times article, "A Hard Plastic Is Raising Hard
Questions," that most human toxic exposure comes from canned foods. She says, "Virtually every canned
product, even those labeled organic, has a liner with BPA."

Baby products: Millions of baby bottles and cans of baby formula, manufactured
with BPA, have been sold annually for decades. Parker-Pope's article indicates that babies who drink from polycarbonate
bottles ingest an estimated 10 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. Pacifiers and teethers can contain polyvinyl
chloride (known as PVC or vinyl) or DEHP.

One of the best ways of reducing your impact is to become more aware of your consumption and production of
trash. Reduce what you buy and avoid disposable products or those with excess packaging. Reuse what you can.
Recycle all products that are accepted in our local programs.

Bring your own bag when shopping. There are even reusable produce bags on the market now.

Carry a travel mug for your daily caffeine fix. Some places even charge you less.

Quit the bottled water habit. You can stay just as hydrated with a reusable bottle made of stainless steel, aluminum, or
glass.

Learn what you can recycle. Find out what plastics your
community recycler accepts. Explore other recycling resources: UPS
stores will take back shipping peanuts; many office supply chains will take
back used printer cartridges. Go to
www.WhereDoITakeMy.org
for locations

Buy glass food storage containers instead of plastic. Don’t cook in plastic. Heat can cause hazardous chemicals to leach out of some polymers.

Skip the baggies and sandwich bags. Use reusable containers or reusable sandwich bags.

Purchase items in bulk with less packaging. Avoid individually wrapped food servings, or make your own using reusable containers.

Think durable not disposable – razors, pens, lighters, etc.

Tell the restaurant to leave out the Spork kit with your to-go order. Keep
reusable utensils in your desk, purse, and car.

Plastic
water bottles

Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, adding 29 billion
water bottles a year to the problem. In order to make all these bottles, manufacturers use
17 million barrels of crude oil. That’s enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve month.

Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That’s about how much oil was needed
to produce the bottle.

So why don’t more people drink water straight from the kitchen faucet? Some people drink bottled water
because they think it is better for them than water out of the tap, but that’s not true. In the United
States, local governments make sure water from the faucet is safe. There is also growing concern that
chemicals in the bottles themselves may leach into the water.

People love the convenience of bottled water. But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a refillable steel container instead of plastic.

Plastic bottle recycling can help—instead of going out with the trash, plastic bottles can be turned into items like carpeting or cozy fleece clothing.

Unfortunately, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Plastic bottles take many hundreds of years to disintegrate.

Water is good for you, so keep drinking it. But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change.

And yes, you can make a difference. Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours.

Knowing which plastics are recyclable can be tricky. There are so
many different kinds and, unfortunately, not everything that features a
recycle symbol is truly recyclable. It all depends on whether recycling
plants will actually accept the materials, regardless of whether the
manufacturers imprint the familiar "chasing arrow" symbol on the bottom.
Please follow these guidelines when you place items in your
curbside recycle
cart or one of Thurston County's blue bin
locations.

YES—put these items in your curbside recycle
cart:

Plastic bottles and jars with a top more narrow than the base.
No lids or caps.

Plastic tubs that originally held dairy items such as yogurt,
margarine or sour cream. No lids or clear tubs.

Plastic buckets, such as kitty litter or detergent buckets.
Buckets must be clean. No lids or handles.

Rigid plastic plant pots that are clean. No dirt or soil.

NO—these items do NOT go in your cart:

No plastic bags. Check with your local grocery store to see if
they have a plastic bag drop-off bin.

No plastic take-out containers or frozen food trays. This includes the trays, tubs, and clamshell containers that hold take-out food, deli items or produce.

Styrofoam. Clean foam block and food containers can be recycled at the Waste and Recovery Center and DART in Tumwater.